


D&D beyond Normal

by Fukurowl



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Forgotten Realms
Genre: Bad Jokes, Gen, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Stupidity, Swearing, but not too graphic, d&d typical violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-09-07 01:43:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20301376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fukurowl/pseuds/Fukurowl
Summary: Four adventurers strung together by fate and money make their way to help find the long lost Wave Echo Cave, but dangers lurk everywhere. Here's hoping that they make it out alive and sane enought to enjoy their rewards- and hope that those rewards won't be the friendships they found on their way.I played the "Lost Mine of Phandelver" Adventure with a bunch of friends and decided to turn it into a story as a gift for one of them. Weekly Updates





	1. Who the Fuck are they?

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first time running D&D and the first time my friends played, i hope that doesn't shine through. The chapter titles were things said out of character that made us laugh. This story is primarily for my players, but if anyone else happens to enjoy it, even better.
> 
> Spoiler alert for the "Lost Mine" Adventure i guess

_Gather round and settle down, for the story I will unveil is not something you listen to standing. Instead grab a pillow and a snack and let me take you on an adventure._

We start our story with a dwarf.  
He may not be the main character, but he is the reason for all this mess, so he is the best starting point. 

This dwarf is called Gundren Rockseeker.  
He, alongside his two Brothers, Tharden and Nundro, has discovered the entrance to a long-lost mine, called Wave Echo Cave.  
The three intend to re-open the mines after recovering the lost treasures and magic of the place, but dangers lurk everywhere, especially in Phandelver, and where there is power there is competition and blood-lust.  
And as they had lived here their whole lives, the Rockseeker Brothers were all too aware of that and tasked Gundren, the people- person of them to build a team that would help them. 

The first one to get was Phillipa Rockseeker, their cousin.  
-Yes, this is her story, but only in part. -  
And of course she was, family always came first. This was the core essence of dwarven culture. But that aside, she was an ex-soldier properly trained and experienced, and now in close bond with her deity, she had powers that would be necessary in the fight against the evil of the land.  
But on her own this mission would mean certain death, so they kept looking. 

After mentioning his trouble with finding skilled fighters to his personal escort, Sildar suggested one Ahilaz Vesi. A respected and skilled Noble, that went by they, was always happy to earn money and good reputation, and Phandalin was on their way either way.  
After that Gundren was at a loss and decided to just get word out that he was hiring and prayed to find his missing puzzle pieces, and, thank the gods, soon enough the quartet was complete, a strong team that hopefully guaranteed the missions success. 

An Elf, beautiful and skilled in Magic, called Shyraa Strygoy, always on the lookout for more knowledge and power, excited to see Wave- Echo Cave but not interested in claiming it.  
And a halfling, Dr. Domina Regalis Thorngage, it took less than a minute to see that her papers weren’t clean, but Gundren didn’t judge and her skill with bow and arrow made her an excellent addition that could cover the longer distance parts of this mission. 

Now that we know who we are rooting for, this team strung together by chance as much as fate and we know the stakes of this adventure, of which our heroes have yet to grasp the scope of…  
_shall we begin?_


	2. “…and maybe we could keep it as a pet.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let them fight some goblins to get started, ey?

We start, like most good stories, on the road in a wagon that is filled with an assortment of mining supplies and food, including a dozen sacks of flour, several casks of salted pork, two kegs of strong ale, shovels, picks, and crowbars, which our four heroes are guiding to Phandalin, where they are supposed to meet their employer Gundren. 

They’ve already spent the last few days following the High Road south from Neverwinter and have just recently veered east along the Triboar Trail. There has been no trouble so far, but this territory can be quite dangerous as Bandits and outlaws are known to lurk along the trail. 

After another half- day of travel, they come around a bend, and spot two dead horses sprawled about fifty feet ahead of them. And since the woods press close to the trail here, with a steep embankment and dense thickets on either side, there is no way around them. Immediately their guards go up. 

And soon, Ahilaz, who was on the lookout discovered some rather unhelpful details of their situation.   
Those horses belonged to Gundren and Sildar, who had set out before the heroes to “take care of business”, but there was no humanoid creature in sight. Instead, on the right side of the rod were two small Goblins taking cover and hiding in the thickets, waiting for their next target.

Would the wagon have been any closer, they wouldn’t have been able to spot the creatures, but from this angle, they had an advantage, they just had to act quickly. 

As fast as possible the information was relayed to the rest of the troupe. They all readied themselves as Dr. Thorngage stilled the wagon and initiated the fight.   
An arrow soared through the air and hit one of the goblins in the upper chest. The ensuing panic between the goblinoids was used by Ahilaz, who closed distance and threw their javelin.   
The short spear bore into the abdomen of the already wounded creature, that now could only barely hold itself up, misusing his scimitar as a makeshift crutch. 

While all that happened Phillipa began to pray to her deity, crossing her fingers and quickly bringing them down. Not a second passed before a flame-like radiance descended from the heavens quickly zooming towards the bloodied creature.  
But in a twist of luck, just as this radiance would have hit him, the goblin stumbled forward, barely dodging the attack and almost simultaneously on the carriage Dr Thorngage fell backwards as an arrow lodged itself into her shoulder. 

None of them had noticed it coming, and only now did they realized the other two goblins hiding on the left side of the road.   
Now it was Shyraas turn for action, her arm reaching forward, fingers extended wide and her mouth open as she yelled her spell command: “Yeet!”  
Three bolts of pure energy shot form her fingertips, but in her hurry, she missed precision and the energy diffused just in front of the opponents.   
On the other side of the road Ahilaz made a noise of surprise as they also were hit by an arrow, shot by the Goblin close to them that was not currently bleeding out.

**Enough is Enough. **  
The Fighter moved and grabbed the Goblin that was closest to them and to death, holding it up as a shield. The creature struggled for a moment before realizing the futility of going against the much stronger fighter and just slummed down.   
Instead it now locked eyes with his companion and a tiny, sharp voice escaped his throat and words were carried to Shyraa, who- in her endless pursuit of knowledge has accommodated to the Goblin tongue- understood.   
_“Please… don’t kill me…”_

No time to react to that.   
The wizard and Phillipa both were also not finished with fighting. Both quickly aiming attacks at the Goblin that had wounded Dr. Thorngage. Another radiant flame appeared in the sky and energy bolts trickled through the air and Shyraa even ran forward a little. 

But neither of the girls factored in that Goblins were nimble creatures. Combine that with the adrenaline rush that set in after seeing magic attacks for the first time, and you have enough agility to dodge both attacks, even if it was not with ease. And so, both attacks missed.   
Immediately after gaining stable ground another arrow was shot by the goblin but this time at one of the magical offenders. 

Shyraa tripped a little as she felt the sharp edge entering her side, but she still stood tall.   
Witnessing that stubbornness, the goblin who had planned to engage in melee with his scimitar equipped, did not dare to get as close as he planned originally. Instead he foolishly relied on the extra reach his sword gave him, which was significantly not enough. The swing missed wildly.   
After making a fool of himself he ran to back to covers, much like the goblin on the other side of the road did, in an attempt to flee Ahilaz. 

The fighter, who without capable enemies in direct vicinity had a thought.   
“Can any of y’all speak Goblin?”   
And to their surprise Shyraa affirmed.   
“Could you ask him where he comes from?”   
The noble held up the creature that was still in their arms. The elf shrugged and translated. The voice of the Goblin came out broken and ragged.  
“I –“   
But before he could continue a snarl filled the air “Shut up!”   
The other Goblins looked disappointed. “We will take it from here.”   
So much for diplomacy, the fight resumed. 

The fighter carefully sat their cover behind the bushes and equipped their battle axe, and got moving.  
Moments later they towered over the corpse of the Goblin who had shot at Dr. Thorngage, whose head now was lying next to his body, and whose blood stained the axe.   
Ahilaz threw a dirty look to the other Goblins before turning on their heel and returning to cover on the other side of the road.   
Following the fighter’s path with their eyes the two attackers saw the stout, dwarven woman, war hammer in hand, who joined her human companion on the right side of the road. 

Fixating on these two the goblins flinched as they heard a call: “Yeet!”   
Trickling, sparkling energy burst forth from her hand and slammed into one of them, a hit to the head, a hit to the chest, a hit to the stomach and the Goblin flew backwards losing both scimitar and life in the process. 

There was a last foe left alive and after aimlessly firing an arrow to the other side he just crouched into the thickets, in hope of hiding from the next attack.   
An axe was swung and lodged into his shoulder informing him that this was a pointless endeavor. And after realizing that information and just barely having time to look up into a grim, dwarven face framed in red strands of hair a mighty hammer was brought down on his head and left was only an indescribably mess on the floor.   
The Goblins were dead except for one who slowly but surely was losing life force as well, with each drop of black blood that escaped him.


	3. Kind of like toothless, but less cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They interrogate the surving Goblin, but to what end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter is a little cruel depending how you look at it, so if you're sensitive, take care.

As Ahilaz returned to the right side of the road, they saw the dying goblin slowly crawling towards the forest. With no effort whatsoever they picked the creature by the neck and once again held him tight. 

The group began to gather, Phillipa and Shyraa standing by Ahilaz, carefully eyeing the creature in their arms. The Goblin was slummed, sword finally fallen to the ground, black blood leaking from his wounds, his death creeping closer which each minute passed.  
Reminded by this sight, Phillipa laid hand on Shyraas upper arm, as she couldn’t quite reach the wizards shoulder and stroked a few times mumbling “Ai, ai” and praying. All at once Shyraa felt a warm and Golden energy flowing through, which was strange because gold was not a feeling, but it was the only thing she had to describe this. She felt her wounds close; her muscles relax- she felt Amazing. Better than she felt in Months. 

Dr. Thorngage there while went and drove the wagon closer. Still on the coachman’s chair she called out: “Shyraa, did I get that right? You speak Goblin?” “Yeah” Dr. made a face that was somewhere between impressed and weirded out, before she jumped to the ground and began to gather the arrows that were strewn around from the fight. She discovered, while doing that, a small path that lead into the woods, but couldn’t quite figure out why it was there or where it led. 

Ahilaz picked the conversation that Thorngage had started up. “Could you kindly ask the Goblin what he’s doing?”  
The wizard nodded and turned her attention to the small creature. “Back to my original question, what the fuck you doing here?”

The goblin looked up and with a weak, rasp snarl answered, “Why should I tell you?” “Because you’ll die anyway.” Shyraa voice was chipper and didn’t fit the words that came from her mouth.  
The Goblin grimaced in what appeared to be a painful attempt at a smirk, showing his sharp, yellow teeth. “Fair ‘nough.” His voice was still a whispering snarl. 

“We’ve got a hideout back in the woods.”, he weakly raised his arm to gesture towards the path Dr. Thorngage had found, “We- ‘s not quiet 20 of us, and our chief- our leader, Klark, told us to wait here and ambush travelers that come ‘round-“ He was interrupted by a violent cough and black blood splattered on the ground.  
“S’cuse me. So that’s what we do. We were told specifically to wait for some poor dwarf”, he glanced at Phillipa, “a dwarf and a human coming long here, two horses, and to capture ‘em. Allowed to take their stuff but ordered to get a map. A map we’re supposed to deliver to someone. So yeah- that’s what the fuck I’m doin’ here.” 

Shyraa smiled and began to translate the information. Ahilaz looked thoughtful. “Could you ask him if he knows anything else? Anything at all.” Shyraa complied. 

The goblins voice was getting worse and worse. “Depends on what ya wanna know. Ask me a question, I might know the answer.” He added after another cough, “I can just tell ya lots of things, the sky’s blue, for example.” Shyraas eyelid twitched as she refrained from punching him. 

“How far until your hideout?”, Ahilaz asked after some consideration.  
“Distance is weird. ‘bout 5 miles I’d guess.”

“What did you do to Gundren.”, Phillipa also joined this question game now.  
“I received orders from Klark, who got orders from King Groll. We were told- well- paid, to capture the dwarf and send him to Groll.”  
“So, you send him to Groll” “As instructed, yes.”  
The more the creature spoke about being told or instructed and ordered what to do, the more it spat the words out. He was sick of not being able to make own decisions, but the four did not particularly care. 

“Where is that?” Shyraa asked directly, after translating his last answer.  
“King Groll? I don’t know. But I know people who know. I can bring you back there, I don’t care.” He again pointed at the woods. 

Ignoring that, Phillipa looked at her companions. “What do we do?” And as she said that, Dr. Thorngage also joined them.  
“Should we kill him?” Shyraa switched back to common, sounding a little rough. Goblin and Common are very different sounding languages. 

Her three companions began shuffling around, gesturing, before Phillipa steered the conversation back: “Well, do we want to go to the hideout?”  
“Oh Yeah, definitely.” Shyraa accompanied her words with an “Of course” kind of expression. But Ahliaz looked doubtful.  
“We are not exactly well; you may be healed but Dr. Thorngage and myself were also injured.”  
“I have an aunt in Phandalin, I am sure we could sleep there and regain our power and so on. We also should deliver the goods first-”, she cocked her head to the carriage, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring a wagon full of goods into the woods.”  
“That is a very wise idea.” Ahilaz seemed impressed. 

It seemed like that had a plan and Ahilaz considered the life they held. They made a decision and turned to Shyraa. “Tell him “Thank you.”  
And as the wizard did, the fighter grabbed the Javelin that still was lodged in the small creature’s body and twisted it one more time. 

The Goblin twitched and looked at Shyraa. His Voice was ragged and broken and barely audible as his last words fell from his lips. _“Assholes.”_  
After that his eyes glossed over, his body went limb and even the last bit of life left him.


	4. A non-lethal case of dying Anni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival in Phanadalin and first NPC interactions, lets see how good their Charisma is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anni is one of my Players, I asked her, and she didn't mind her name in the title.

The four took some time to move the horse and goblin corpses to the side of the road, to make further travel easier, before mounting back on the wagon, this time with Shyraa as a coachman and made their idle way towards the town of Phandalin. 

The rutted track emerges from a wooded hillside, when they catch their first glance of Phandalin. From above like this in the low evening sun the small town looked beautiful, but they did not have the time to appreciate this. 

They knew they had to bring the stuff to Barthens Provisions and even without Dr. Thorngages prior knowledge of this town, this was easy enough to find. The first big building on their way was labeled as such. 

“Okay, which one of you will go in?” Dr. Thorngage took command while beginning to hide in the back of the carriage. The three looked at her before leaving her be and all entering the house. 

Inside the walls were lined with shelves and boxes and sacks and kegs filled with practical items, such as rope and spikes and fabric and leather. And between this mass of stuff were two younger boys, one broom in hand sweeping the floor, the other standing in the way one stands when you just now finished your task, with a dirty cloth still in his hand and lastly there was a lean and balding human male who appeared around age 50 standing behind some sort of counter.  
As potential customers entered he greeted them:

“Hello good people, I am Elmar Barthen, the proprietor of this beautiful shop. How may I help you today?” 

Shyraa was the first to answer: “ We do have a crap- ton of stuff with us. I can’t exactly remember the name of the dude that gave it to us, but-“ her voice became gigglier as she noticed just how suspicious she sounded, luckily Phillipa stepped in. “We were hired to go here and-“ Ahilaz also noticed the struggle. “Yeah, we were supposed to…”  
Elmar looked between the three of them when it hit him. “OH! You’re the guys Rockseeker hired.” 

“Exactly.” Ahilaz sounded as relieved as their companions looked. 

“Sure, sure, sure, Ander, Cistle, could you help the folks get the stuff in here?” Elmar addressed his apprenticed, who nodded and began moving towards the door. “I’ll get the payment, could you get the items in here?” Now he was talking to our adventurers, before turning his back and beginning to search for something.  
Shyraa and Phillipa followed the two guys outside beginning to bit by bit bring the supplies inside. Ahilaz stayed with Barthen, watching him. The proprietor used this as an opportunity to strike up a conversation. “By the way, do you know anything about Gundren? He has not arrived yet. “

Ahilaz cleared their throat. “Well he was supposed to get here before us, but we do have the strong suspicion that he was taken, by someone called the black spider.  
Elmar didn’t turn or look at the fighter, but he kept talking: “That sounds worrying. Are y’all planning to help him? I’d be sad if he didn’t return, he is my friend.”  
“Yeah, it was our plan to drop of the load and then go looking for him. Do you have any knowledge about a goblin camp northwest from here?” You had to use all possible sources and Ahilaz would do just that, but they were disappointed. 

“No, I can’t tell ya anything. Goblins? I mean there is all sorts of stuff in the woods that’s making life hard for people. Especially if they’re attacking the trail. I get deliveries from everywhere and the Triboar trail is an important business route. That is why we hire folks like you.” He gestured to Ahilaz axe, still sticky with the black goblin blood.  
The noble swiftly ignored the gesture, returning to business. “Have you heard anything else about troubles?”

The mans face twisted. “Fucking Redbrands, bunch of criminals, making business extremely hard, just meandering around town, stressing everybody out. And, now that I think about it, Gundren missing is extra concerning, since his two brothers were making camp outside the city and haven’t returned. But maybe that’s unrelated and I am just paranoid.”

“Well one of our companions, Phillipa, is their cousin, so I hope they’ll be back soon.” 

“So, do I, so do I” and he walks over, in his hand a pouch that clearly contained coins. 

“Your payment, just as promised, 40 gold.” And if as on command Shyraa and Phillipa returned with the last sacks of flour, still it was Ahilaz that finishes this business.  
“Thank you both for this and for the help.”  
“No Problem at all, pleasure making business with you.”

They nodded at each other before the three adventurers left the shop to pick up the still hiding Dr. Thorngage, who had pulled their hood over their face. They started walking to Ms. Alderleaf’s House and took a look around Phandalin for the first time.


	5. That was cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr Thorngage reunites with her aunt and Ahilaz gives a pep-talk.

The town consisted of forty or fifty simple log buildings, some built on old fieldstone foundations. The newer houses were surrounded by more old ruins -crumbling stonewalls covered in ivy and briars, showing that this must have been a much larger town in centuries past.

Most of the newer buildings were set on the sides of the cart track, which the party was following and which widened into a muddy main street of sorts as it climbs toward a ruined manor house on a hillside at the eastside of town.

As they walked to the town center, they saw children playing on the town green and townsfolk tending to chores or running errands at shops. Many people looked up as they approached, but all returned to their business as they passed. Ahilaz used the way to relay the information they got from Elmar to the rest and as the name Redbrand dropped, Phillipa’s eyes lit up in anger. “Oh, I’d love to teach those Criminals a lesson. We need to stop their villainy” “I’d love to help stopping them.” Dr. Thorngage, hood still up, also kept her voice down, and Ahilaz began to worry.

But they no time to follow that train of thought as they arrived on the outskirts of town at the Alderleaf farm. Working the fields was a strong, stout halfling woman, and running around her a halfling child, about ten years old, sing- screaming playful nonsense. Dr. Thorngage recognized them both and put her hood down.

In that moment Quelline Alderleaf turned around. “Hey Auntie.” The thief-ling smiled as a huge grin spread across her aunt’s face. “Reggay! You’re in town! Good to see you!” She paused as she saw the rest of the crew “And you brought friends. That’s a new one. That is a new… thing.” “Yeah thanks Auntie.”

No amount of sour tone could hide how happy Dr. Thorngage was to see her family. And even that melted as they hugged each other. Her aunt let go keeping her hands on the shoulders of her niece. “Gods damn it, as cliché as it is, but you grow, actually. You should be here more often. When I notice your growing process, you don’t visit enough. Also could you introduce me please?”

“Yeah, this is Shyraa-“ “Nice to meet you.” “-this is Phillipa-“ “Nice to meet you, Phillipa.” “-and this is Ahilaz, they prefer to be referred to as they.” “Okay, good to know. Nice to meet you all. Welcome to my humble farm.” They all appreciated the greeting, but before anyone could answer Quelline turned back to her niece.

“As excited as I am that you are here… What do you want?”  
DR. Thorngage had the decency to look a little sheepish. “Heh. We wanted to ask if we could stay the night and regain our stamina.” “The hay-loft is open.”

“I am also very sorry, auntie, I didn’t bring you anything this time.” Quelline tasseled her hair and smiled warmly. “No Problem. Shall we?”

As the five of them were about to head inside the little Boy came sprinting towards them and hugged his cousin tight. He then swiveled around and looked and them all.

“Are you adventurers?! I am also an adventurer! Well, I will be when I grow up. Well I already am- says my mom- but I will be a better adventurer when I grow up! Because then I can leave the town.” “Dude, Dude, Dude-”Shyraa laughed as she attempted to calm the little ball of energy down.

Dr. Thorngage just smiled contently and ruffled the boys hair. “Yea, Carp I know you are.”

“Well, but maybe I don’t have to leave to- to- to get rid of those bandits! I can do that!” His mother sighed. “Sure thing. Hey, could you do me a favor and fetch some water for inside?”_ “Oooooookaaaayyyy…”_ And he took of running again.

His mother turned to them. “I hope he won’t bother you too much.” But Dr. Thorngage protested at that. “Uh no. I love my lil cousin.” And Shyraa wholeheartedly agreed. “That dude is cute.”

That earned the wizard a smile from her companion and after that they finally went inside the house escaping the afternoon sun. Quelline showed them around the farm and they relaxed and laughed until the evening where they were served a gorgeous, if simple, dinner and were asked to tell stories about their adventured. It was an overall lovely time. After the dinner our four heroes headed to the hayloft for the night.

Ahilaz approached Dr. Thorngage with a smile. “Hey, could we step out for a moment?” The thief cracked up, speaking through the laughter: “You know how that sounds? But yeah, sure we can.” Prompted by that Shyraa began joking around as well, but Ahilaz was having none of that.

“I just want to ask you a question, do you mind stepping out for a bit?” Dr. Thorngage sighed and stood up.

Outside of the hayloft Ahilaz looked at their companion. “Why were you hiding? When we were around town?” “Well… During my time in this city, I did some things I am not very proud of, so like… And there are people who might not like me because of that, so that’s just a reason…” While she trailed off Ahilaz jumped in.

“But, how bad was the stuff that you did, that you actually have to hide?” “Really bad? Yeah.” “You were in with those bandits, weren’t you?”

She pulled a sour face. “May-be.” And then her face softened and she sincerely looked at the fighter. “Please don’t tell Phillipa.” “Sure thing.” “Thank you.”  
The former bandit was about to turn on her heel, as she remembered something. “Oh! And please don’t believe I believe that stuff still.” “We’re teammates now, so… And that’s your past. I have also done stuff in the past. We’re comrads and I like you, so.” “Aww Thanks. Now, let’s go to sleep!” “Yeah. Thanks for telling me all this.” “Yeah, No problem.” The two smiled at each other.

And then went to sleep with the rest of the group.


	6. Scream for me Goblins! I'll teach you how to swim! ...and die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The way to the hide seems to be more of a challenge then anticipated, goddamnit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is not only a fun joke, but also a refrence to the live recording of the song "Fly" from "Blind Guardian" I, as well as at least two of my players really like their music, so give them a listen, if you want.

As soon as the sun began rising the next morning, they rose with it, packing their things and eating a small breakfast. Ms. Alderleaf joined them but she clearly was still very tired. This was early, even for her, but she couldn’t not tell her niece goodbye, she never knew when she would see her next.  
So, after a long hug and a promise made to come back soon, the adventurers made their way through a silent Phandalin. The only ones already- or rather still- out were the cats and a few drunks. But luckily they left the four alone. 

As they arrived back at the place where the fight took place yesterday, they spotted the corpses of both horses and Goblins still how they left them and no new ambushers in sight. 

After making especially sure of the last fact, they made their way down the thin path Dr. Thorngage had discovered previously. Ahilaz lead the way, followed by Shyraa, then Dr Thorngage and Phillipa formed the back. 

After about 10 minutes following down the path Ahilaz had to stop their companions. Hidden beneath leaves and sticks was a snare, clearly there to catch intruders. Luckily, they didn’t fall for it and well, now they knew they were on the right path. 

But then about 10 minutes later Ahilaz had let their attention slip. A surprised noise came from them as they slipped into a previously covered pit. They managed to catch themselves enough to barely get hurt, but still- it had taken them by surprise. As they climbed out of the pit, assuring their companions that they were fine, they swore to be more careful, for the rest of the way. 

And they were. About five miles from the scene of the ambush the four came across a large cave in a hillside. A shallow stream flowed out of the cave mouth, which was screened by dense briar thickets. A narrow dry path lead into the cave on the right-hand side of the stream. 

The four looked at each other. It seemed they could simply wade through the stream didn’t it? The initiative came from Shyraa, and they began making their way through the water. Easy enough.  
But, after the first few steps, they discovered that, on the eastside of the stream, a small area of the thickets had been hollowed out to form a lookout post or blind. Wooden planks flattened out the briars and provided room for guards to lie hidden and watch the area -including a pair of goblins lurking there right now!

Now who could be the first to act but Shyraa. The wizard quickly threw her hand forward, yelled “Yeet!” once again and fired three bolts of pure energy into the brush- because aiming is hard when you act so quick.  
Dr. Thorngage faced a similar problem, as she almost simultaneously slung her short bow forward, to also miss the Goblins head by just a bit. But this was enough to get the small creatures to action. 

A snarl was the first thing they heard, the meaning of which was only revealed to the other creature and Shyraa: “Stay back! I’ll see how strong they really are.” And with that one of them moved forward, scimitar drawn to strike Ahilaz, who was still in the front. The fighter was able to push the creature away with ease, though.  
The other Goblin, not ready to join the fray, but also not wanting to leave their companion helpless, began to make noise and move around in an attempt to distract the adventurers. 

An attempt that was successful enough to cause the swing of Ahilaz Great axe as well as the swing of Phillipa’s war hammer to miss. 

But in the time passed Shyraa had time to both calibrate herself and get properly pissed at her opponents and the missed attacks. She once again invoked magic missile and was now precise enough to split the three bolts that darted out of her hand. One of which hit the goblin on the sidelines hard enough to stop his dancing. The other two slammed into the Goblin right in front of Ahilaz causing him to fly backwards into the stream and stay lying down head under water. The wizard assumed he died. 

The focus shifted to the remaining Goblin in the brush. Dr Thorngage once again aimed her bow, but the creature was able to duck fast enough into their hide-out that the arrow didn’t hit.  
Boosted by that success the Goblin ran from the lookout to the party and attacked the dwarf, sadly successfully. It then sprinted back to its hiding place. Ahilaz tried to strike while it ran past them but missed. These fuckers are damn nimble. 

Unsatisfied with that result the fighter followed after the creature into the brush and swung their great axe once more, cutting away some of the wildlife, but none of the Goblin.  
Dr Thorngage and Shyraa could now witness something they had seen before, but that was fascinating more then once. Phillipa crossed her fingers and from the sky came down something like a flame. With the precision of an ace- archer that something hit the Goblin, who let out a loud and painful screech as it fell backwards, where it stayed. 

Two more of these thieves were dead and the group could move on into the cave.


	7. If I cast Burning Hands against the wall- could we use the heat radiating off of that to dry ourselves?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the cave - Out of the cave and swimming lessons with Ahilaz and Shyraa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for taking so long, exam season hit me hard.

The entrance of the cave was barely illuminated by the light from outside and beyond that was only black. The four adventurers were greeted by the stench of animals and the sounds of rattling chains and savage snarls. Just inside the cave mouth, a few uneven stone steps lead up to a small, dank chamber on the east side of the passage, where two wolves were chained up. Each wolf's chain leads to an iron rod driven into the base of a stalagmite.

Well, that would be problem number one. Before all of them could discuss a solution however, Phillipa was already searching her bag and retrieved some meat from her own rations. She carefully closed the distance and threw the food to the wolves. They immediately began devouring the snack and calmed enough for the cleric to pet one of them. While she was up there she took a look around the room. Dwarves, much like elves had quite the dark vision and even under these circumstances she could see the room fine. Well, only shades of grey, but nonetheless fine.

The cave narrowed to a steep fissure at the far end. And as she looked around Phillipa discovered a narrow opening, that upon closer inspection seemed to be a natural chimney leading upwards. She wondered for a second if she- or rather someone like Dr Thorngage-could climb up there, but quickly discarded the idea. If that went wrong it would most certainly hurt a great deal.

So, instead she made her way back to her party, only to discover that they were in a heated discussion how to proceed. Dr Thorngage and Ahilaz wouldn’t be able to see without a light source and a light source would draw attention. However splitting the party didn’t seem like a great idea either.  
It ended with Shyraa offering to look around, before they moved forward together and Ahilaz decided to help best they could. The main passage from the cavemouth climbed steeply upward, the stream plunging and splashing down its westside. In the shadows, Shyraa discovered a side passage that lead west across the other side of the stream.

The ceiling of both the cave Phillipa had explored and the passage sloped steeply, creating stalactite-covered vaults that rose roughly 20 to 30 feet above the ground. The sound of the stream in the cave muffled the noises, making it difficult to communicate or spot danger, but after a bit of concentrated listening Shyraa was able to make out skittering and goblinoid voices speaking indistinctly.

The elf moved deeper into the cave, where in the shawdows of the ceiling to the north she could make out the dim shape of a rickety bridge of wood and rope crossing over the passage ahead of her. Another passage intersected this one, about twenty feet of the floor. For a moment Shyraa thought she saw movements a top the bridge but she couldn’t actually see anyone as she tried to look again. Paranoia was getting to her mostlikly. 

Shrugging the wizard turned and walked back to tell her companions what she had found out. Another debate ensued what to do next, if they could use the chimney to their advantage, if splitting the party was even an option, if perhaps Phillipa and Shyraa could just lead their blind companions...

It had no use, Phillipa finally pulled a torch from her bag and handed it to Shyraa, who proceeded to spew a small flame from her hands to light it and pass the torch on to Dr Thorngage who took her sword into the hand that wasnt carrying the torch. After that they began moving deeper into the cave together.

They didn't come spectacularly far however. Instead they were stopped in there tracks by a mighty roar as a huge surge of rushing water poured from above. Only one of them was quick enough to escape the- maybe not so- natural trap. Dr Thorngage leaped out of the way and stumbled her way onto the edge of an escarpment that was slightly raised. The water shot past her as she carefully balanced herself on the rubble that would have sent anyone heavier than her sliding down the pit. 

Phillipa at least was able to hold onto dear life to the cave wall as the water mass rushed past her and even had enough control to push her back onto her back so it would stay mostly dry.

But Ahilaz and Shyraa had no such luck. They were flushed out of the cave with no chance for stopping along the way. Outside they fell onto their asses which hurt but not a lot. The annoying part was that they were wet and that the flood had caught them by such surprise.The water around the seeped into the ground or joined the stream as they stood up and squeezed whatever water they could out of their clothes. 

Grumpy and still soaking the fighter and the wizard made their way back into the cave where the scheming had begun once again. Phillipa had found matches in her bag that were dry enough to relight the torch that Dr Thorngage still held. After that the halfling had been able to see the path on the other side of the escarpment which seemed to almost parallel to the one her three party members were standing right now. After some mental calculations she decided that she would try to make the jump. 

Currently she was tying a piece of rope around her waist while Phillipa explained to the newcomers that they would hold the other end of that rope, so that in the case that Dr. Thorngage fell they would be able to help her control her fall and pull her back up. With that the Dr gave her the rope and looked forward taking a few breaths. 

And then she jumped. And although it had seemed unlikely, with amazing grace the halfling leapt onto the other side with no trouble at all. Impressed with herself, she tucked the rope back to her bag and examined the new path. On the west was faint flickering light and to the east the tunnel seemed to connect to the one her three companions were walking right now. She indicated the latter information through hand gestures and as they finally continued walking she herself put out her torch and began sneaking towards the light.


	8. Seven at one Stroke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BBQ at Shyraas place! Don't ask about the meat...

Dr Thorngage was gesticulating wildly to the east and up so it took some time to get a read on the very hurried Halfling but eventually Ahilaz face lit up. "Guys I think we need to get on that bridge to get to her!" Dr Thorngage nooded violently and as soon as Phillipa started moving ahead she carefully sneaked in the opposite direction. That was the last Ahilaz saw at all, because as Dr Thorngage moved she took the torch with her and the cave got completly dark. Shyraa grabbed their shoulder and began guiding them but it was an almost scary experience.

"We're at the bridge." Shyraas voice was a bodyless whisper, "I am going to climb up." And sure enough, judging from the movements Ahilaz could make out other than the stream both Shyraa and Phillipa made it up the bridge. They carefully edged forward until their hand met the stonewall but with the first touch they knew that that would be to slippery to climb without any light. They looked up to where they approximated their companions to be and shrugged. 

They heard the whispers atop the bridge but couldnt really make out any words, until Phillipa whisper- shouted down to them: "I will let down some rope and we will pull you up." Ahilaz nodded and was promptly hit by a piece of rope swinging in their face. They grabbed onto it and tugged carefully to signal that they were ready. It took a lot of joined effort, but Ahilaz was used to difficult circumstances and neither Phillipa nor Shyraa were weak and so soon Ahilaz stood atop the bridge next to them and they moved into the tunnel that was most definetly the one Dr Thorngage was in. 

  
Dr Thorngage had carefully moved along the wall making little to no sound- this was what she was great in- and came to the edge of a chamber. It was divided in half by a ten-foot-high escarpment. A steep natural staircase leads from the lower portion to the upper ledge. The air is hazy with the smoke of a cooking fire, and pungent from the smell of poorly cured hides and unwashed goblins.

She was on the same level as the lower portion of the cave discovered two fireplaces in that part, one only glimming with the rest of a fire the other brightly lit casting light on the five goblins sitting on benches and seemingly relaxing. There was a big sleeping area, a simply blanket laid on the floor. As her eyes wandered upwards she discovered something troubeling. Securly bound to the ledge of the escarpment was a human, who looked beaten, tortured and very close to death. And worse than that she knew that human. She couldn't remember his name, but it was Gundrens escort. Surely Ahliaz would be able to help, the two seemed to go back a little. 

For right now the Doctor decided that she had seen enough and retreated a bit- closely pressed to the wall- into the tunnel. Where soon enough she "ran" into the rest of the party. She stopped them and explained the situation in detail. As she described the layout Shyraa had an idea. One of her spell might come to great use right now, but it was dangerous, she had to see for herself first. 

So back they went, Ahilaz- who indeed provided Dr Thorngage with the Name "Sildar Hallwinter"- and the Doctor edged along the wall, their companions walked slowly and quietly as well, with the advantage of seeing the ground to their feet. NOt long before they came back to the edge of the room and even went a little closer than Dr Thorngage did before. Which is why they managed to see a six Goblin. Up on the higher level, more in the shadows behind Sildar was a Goblin, dressed in slightly better armor looking down with disdain. Still SHyraa surveilled the scene and decided that she had just the thing for this situation. 

She got a nod from her companions and then moved into the cave, jsut so that she stood diagonally to the five Goblins on the benches.   
She stretched her arms and hands in front of her, thumbs touching.   
"Dracaris." the word seemed to resonate in the room, spoken in a much deeper tone than usual for the wizard.   
And with that a thin sheet of fire spew forth from her fingertips shooting forward rappidly setting fire to everything encompassed in the big cone that formed in front of her. 

None of the Goblins were able to react quickly enough and from them sounded a distorted scream as first their armor and the benches they sat on then their hair and their skin, it all started burning and burning and soon enough nothing remained except coal and smoke. 

Shyraa was more than satisfied with herself, this went better than she expected and she was about to pat herself on the back as a voice came from behind her. 

"Halt! Or he dies." 

The wizard turned around slowly and faced up to the last remaining Goblin. 


	9. Theophany? What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spotlight on Shyraa, ambassador to the Goblins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were multiple options for this weeks chapter title, it was a little hard to choose but this was my fave.  
There will be no chapter next week as it will be my birthday weekend, and I won't have time.   
There also is only a few chapters left until this story comes to it first end. I hope to make a continuation, but sadly we cant play often and this story depends on our game. So I will end it on a high note and then see what comes after that.

Shyraa turned around slowly to face the speaker. A Goblin illuminated by the still burning benches in the cave took his foot of Sildars Body, instead picking the fighter up and dangling him of the ledge. He looked quite a bit stronger and better armored than his companions. “Do you understand me?" the Goblin was snarling in his native tongue.

"Indeed, I do... Fucker." Shyraa answered in the same sort of snarl.

The Goblin smirked a little. "Smart fellow. You're strong and _just_ who I need" Shyraa squinted up at him, very skeptically: "What would you mean by that?"

"Well there is someone in this cave who fancies himself a leader- a bugbear named Klark-" he laughed for a moment and I don't think he deserves that position anymore... " he trailed off for a moment before single focusing onto the wizard. "You could help me kill him and I could help you- by giving him back." and while he spoke he lifted Sildar just a little higher, which seemed to stir the human.

He groaned in pain before opening his eyes a little. "Don't- trust- the goblin..." his voice was weak and broke at the end when the Goblin shook him a little, effectively also shutting him up.

"Where were we...?" he spoke a few words that Shyraa didn't catch because for a brief moment her focus shifted to the wall in front of her, where ever so carefully Dr Thorngage was sneaking her way to the staircase on the other side. She wasn't perfectly hidden, but their opponent was preoccupied so it seemed to work out. When the halfling caught Shyraas eyes she gave her a warning look and put one finger up to her lips.

The wizard shook herself internally and looked back up at the Goblin, who was looking her up and down as if to get a clearer read on her. "...you don't seem to be in it for the money. And you were very fast to attack, it's a little weird, but I am not gonna complain. Bring me Klarks head and I will give you the dude."

Shyraa inhaled sharply. "There is one problem. I do not know who the fuck you are talking about."

"Well, you know what a bugbear is? That's Klark. An insane one at that."

"And your plan is to put me up against that? Well Problem Number Two: I do not know where this person should be." "You have found your way up here, so you should be able to follow your way back and just go over the bridge and he sits in a cave over on the other side." Shyraa was starting to get irritated. She also assumed Dr, Thorngage had a plan, she hoped it would be executed quickly.

"Your plan is- I am supposed to just leave you here with that dude you want to throw off the cliff?"

"I don't want to do that-" ""Okay that's cool but you actually-" "I have no interest in killing him."

Deep breaths, Shyraa, calm down. "Again, you suggest me-" "Yes." "-to go back there and just like-" she indicated the size of a bugbear, which much bigger than herself. But the Goblin seemed unimpressed. "You just killed 5 Goblins at one stroke."

"That's true, but-" "I mean, if you're not strong enough..." "I did not say that!" "we can continue this for a while." "I am just saying-" the wizard raised her voice in the hope of not being interrupted. "if I do not manage to kill him and he like, kills me and stuff-" "Then you are dead." "Then I am dead, and he will be left wondering why you let a wizard wander through his cave." Shyraa smiled rather smugly, but still her opponent wasn't impressed with her arguments. Dr Thorngage was almost at the base of the stairs.

"You **murdered** all of my subjects! I could easily explain why I couldn't kill you! And why the almighty Klark had to do it himself, I am so sorry." his voice was more than just sarcastic. "But you wouldn't be able to explain why you are still alive. I could easily fireball you right now, which I am not gonna do, because like I said there is a Dudette in your hands that I will need."

"Like I said. You are a smart fellow." "Uh-huh." "But that will be my Problem." "It will be." "Only if you are murdered, in which case I am still better off than you."

Shyraa knew this wasn't going anywhere so she tried changing the subject. "Well, what ensures me that if I help you, you won't stab me in the back? How about you come and help me?" "Oh, I need to watch the prisoner." The Goblin seemed to feign innocence which drove the wizard nuts.

"Oh **_sure._**" The Goblin grinned with sharp teeth, it would’ve been impossible to not pick up on the sarcasm, but he was having his fun with this girl. "I am on duty." He mocked a salute.

Shyraa on the other hand was near fuming. "He's pretty knocked out, isn't he?"

"Well yes, but I cannot be sure you're alone and this is my safety." "Sure." Shyraa didn't even pretend to be convinced at this point. "Besides you are strong, and I am not dumb, you could just as easily stab me in the back. I enjoy having the higher ground in this situation, because I enjoy being alive." Neither of them noticed the joke in him literally standing on higher ground, but to be fair, they were distracted.

Shyraa sighed deeply. "Well then, I'll just go straight to Klark and roast the ever-loving shit out of him." The goblin smiled. "That's it, smart fellow." Shyraa smiled back. "Since I am so smart, let me give you a tip. Always watch your back."

And that was when Dr. Thorngage swung her sword, which lodged between his shoulder and his neck causing the goblin to scream horribly. Ahilaz took that as a sign to run into the room and throw their javelin in the direction of their opponent, but they didn't hit, as the Dr. pulled out her sword while kicking the Goblin who fell down the ledge, landing on the ground with a terrible crack, but nevertheless...

He pushed himself up weakly, but managed to stand up, staring Shyraa down, as much as that was possible from his height. He spit down in front of her. "Fucker!"

Shyraa laughed. "You stated that I am smart multiple times, do you really think I'd go into this cave alone? Yeet!" Her arm flew forward and the energy had almost no time to properly form bolts as it shot from her fingers, instead exploding on the Goblins Body, slamming him backwards into the wall. The creature couldn't even screech, landing dead against that wall.


End file.
